Chettinad Chicken Varuval Dry Recipe

This is the first post after my chettinad visit. Have handful of chettinad recipes got from our relations @ karaikudi. Their recipes are really Wonderful which is cooked in chettinad style. Happy that I got these wonderful collection of chettinad recipes from our close relations. Will Post one by one.

This is chettinad special chicken dry recipe. Here aromatic spices are dry roasted, ground together and added at last to get a nice aroma of spices which is very well coated to obtain a spicy and tasty dry chicken. Let me share this delicious chettinad dish with you all.

Ingredients:

To Marinate :

1. Chicken - 1/2 kg or 500 gms
2. Coriander Powder - 2 tsp
3. Chilly Powder - 2 tsp
4. Turmeric Powder - 2 tsp
5. Lemon - 1/2
6. Salt as per requirement

To Roast and Grind:

1. Coriander seeds - 2 tbsp
2. Cumin seeds - 1 tbsp
3. Fennel seeds - 1tbsp
4. Dry Red Chilly - 4 nos
5. Whole Black pepper - 1 tbsp
6. Cinnamon Stick - 2 nos
7. Cloves - 2 nos
8. Cardamom - 2 nos
9. Stone Flower/ Kalpasi - 4 nos
10. Mace / Jathibathri - 1/2 spear
11. Grated Coconut - 2 tbsp

To Saute :

1. Oil for Cooking
2. Big Onion - 1 Big size
3. Bay leaf - 1 no
4. Tomato Chopped - 2 tbsp
5. Ginger Garlic Paste - 2 tbsp
6. Green Chilly - 2 nos
7. Curry Leaves
8. Coriander leaves

Click the Image and zoom you will get clear enlarged stepwise pictures

Cooking Method:

First clean the chicken thoroughly with turmeric and marinate with the Ingredients listed under 'To Marinate'. Marinate for atleast 1 hour before cooking.

Dry roast the Ingredients listed under 'To Roast and Grind' without adding Oil. Roast the Coriander and Dry Red Chilly separately and roast all other Ingredients altogether. Keep the stove in simmer and roast. Do not let it burnt as the nice aroma will be lost if it is burnt. So be careful while Roasting.

Let all the roasted Ingredients be cool down for a while

In a kadai add Oil and Roast the Coconut separately till it becomes dry and light brown in colour. 

First Grind all the roasted spices in a mixer grinder and add roasted coconut along with it and Grind everything together to form a coarse powder. Keep it aside.

Add Oil in a kadai, add Bay leaf, Onion, Green chilly, curry leaves, Ginger Garlic Paste. Saute till it becomes brown. Then add Tomato and saute till it becomes Mushy. Now add the Marinated Chicken Pieces and saute nicely. Add less salt, remember that we have added salt for Marinating, so pls adjust accordingly. Close the lid of the Kadai without adding water to it. Keep in medium flame and cook. The chicken itself leaves Water and cooked well.

Now the Chicken has cooked Well. If there is water remaining reduce it by keeping in high flame. Its time to add the Spice Powder as a final Main Ingredient. Add the Grounded Masala Powder along with the cooked chicken and saute nicely till it coats nicely with the Chicken. Now you can smell the nice aroma of the roasted chettinad spice powder. Finally Garnish with enough Coriander leaves. 

The spicy Chettinad style Chicken Varuval dry recipe is now ready and it goes well with any type of Rice as a side.

Notes :

No need to add Water to cook the chicken. when chicken is cooked without water it will give a good taste.
Adjust the grounded spice powder according to your spiciness and if it is left over you can store it in refrigerator for future use.

Nattu kozhi Kuzhambu / Country Chicken Gravy - Easy Version

Naatukozhi / Country Chicken Gravy is a lengthier recipe which takes more time to prepare the dish, so thought of making country chicken gravy a bit faster than the normal gravy and tried it. It came out well. I got this recipe from an article which contains country chicken recipes. Its really easy and you can prepare the delicious dish in less time. 

This curry is delicious and has a lot of flavors in it, the chicken remains succulent and juicy. The spices used here makes the curry taste and smell so good. The only part that you have to concentrate is the cooking time of chicken, it takes a bit longer time to cook compared to normal chicken. Serves as a best combo with rice, fluffy idlis and crispy dosa. 

Health Benefits of Country Chicken compared to Normal Chicken:

Country chicken is the best when compared to broilers. Broilers are nowadays fed with some  hormonal feed or injected with growth hormones to become fat and full of meat in just a short period. This can be a hazard and there will be an imbalance in the hormone system to anyone who consumes chicken very often. But still there is an alternative for chicken lovers, its the country chicken which are not grown in farms nor fed with hormones. They are therefore safe and a protein rich meat, that provides lots of nutrition when consumed. Prepare this curry and make your platter healthier. 

Ingredients:

1. Country Chicken - 3/4 kg
2. Shallots / Small Onion - 20 nos
3. Sour Tomatoes - 2 nos
4. Grated Coconut - 2 tbsp (optional)
5. Ginger Garlic paste - 1 tbsp
6. Red Chilli Powder - 1 tbps
7. Coriander Powder - 1 and 1/2 tbsp
8. Jeera / Jeera Powder - 2 tsp
9. Pepper / Pepper Powder - 2 tsp
10. Fennel / Fennel Powder - 2 tsp
11. Garam masal Powder - 2 tsp
12. Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp
13. Oil - 1 tbsp
14. Cinnamon Stick - 1/2 inch size
15. Cloves - 2 nos
16. Cardamom - 1 no
17. Green Chilli - 1 no
18. Big Onion - 1 medium size
19. Curry leaves and mustard for tempering
20. Coriander leaves for Garnishing
21. Salt as per taste

Cooking Method:

Take a heavy bottomed pan add oil and saute onion, tomatoes and then grated coconut. 
After it is saute nicely add all the spice powders except garam masala powder.
Add ginger garlic paste and mix well. let it cool down for some time. After it becomes cool grind it in a mixer grinder to a smooth paste. 

Click the Image and zoom you will get clear enlarged stepwise pictures

1. Take a pressure Cooker add oil, cardamom, clove and cinnamon. A nice aroma comes, now you add Big Onions, green chilli, curry leaves and saute for a minute. 
2. Now add the grounded masala, garam masala and saute in oil for some time. 
3. Now add the chicken pieces and mix well with the masala. 
4. Add salt and required water and close the lid and leave for up to 7 to 8 whistles depending on the chicken.
5. After pressure leaves the cooker open the lid, if the water is more keep in medium flame and reduce the water. 
6. Check for salt. Temper mustard and Curry leaves, add in the Gravy and mix well. Finally Garnish with enough coriander leaves. 

Click the Image and zoom you will get clear enlarged stepwise pictures

Delicious Country Chicken curry is now ready!! Serve with hot rice, dosa, idli or chapattis and enjoy!!

Notes :

You can follow this recipe for preparing normal chicken gravy. 

Coconut is purely optional. You can prepare the dish without using Coconut also.

If you choose the small/early stages of nattukozhi it will be quickly cooked within sometime.